The Essence of the Bun

I have learned the story of Scott. Scott is a guy I've seen kind of lurking about the office with a generally mysterious air. Turns out, Scott is a Kung Fu master who spent years trying to break into the Cantonese film scene. He got so good that they offered him a fight scene with Jet Li. Then the day before shooting, he cut his foot open on a sword.

I went to aMoon Festival celebration a few nights ago, and here is some photographic evidence:

This is I with swan lanterns. Lanterns are a big deal for this festival. In the past, before people worried about minor issues like public safety, they played a game called "Candles." Apparently, this game involved making a giant fire and throwing candles into it. Now, something may have been lost in translation, but since this is the only story I have, I will assume its truth.
Here I am, holding a lantern (they still have real candles inside). The guy is Tim, my castmate, coworker, associate, and other euphemistic terms.
Joan, Angel and I in front of another lantern display. Yes, family, that is a rainbow.

Now here comes the good stuff. Joan and I both had Monday off (for the Moon Festival is a public holiday), so we took a ferry to Cheung Chau, an island west of Hong Kong and formerly a pirate haven. We hiked the entire island and almost never passed out. A highlight was the pirate cave of Cheung Po Tsai--you know, the notorious and treacherous pirate from the early 19th century. I wanted to go spelunking, but as you can see, the cave is still guarded by impenitrible forces:
Actually, this kid just told me to be careful (in Cantonese, which I appreciated--people old enough to see that I'm a Westerner assume I can't speak Cantonese. They assume correctly, of course, but it was nice not to be a foreigner for once, even if it was in the eyes of a little boy.)
Joan and I outside the "bulu" or "cave"--to be honest, it looked more like a crack to me. Cheung Po Tsai must have been a narrow man, or perhaps a shape-shifter.

Boat parking lot in Cheung Chau. Many fisher-families still live on boats.

A highlight of Cheung Chau is the Pak Tai Temple. I don't take pictures of monks (they're devout religious men, not tourist attractions), however, I will take a picture of the creepy giant whale bones they keep in a backroom of Pak Tai:

On our hike through the mountainous island, we came across do-it-yourself fire extinguishers. We practiced, just in case. At the end of the day, we took a sampan (some guy's little boat) back to the main ferry for $5 (about 64 cents American). And for anyone who says that Hong Kong is "soul-less":